Route to Isvan
Setting Out "So where exactly are we all headed?" Yasaka was flying overhead, having tagged along due to Wendy also coming. Jason looked up at her. 'We're heading to the Land of Isvan. It's located deep in the country of Iceberg." "Iceberg?" Yasaka repeated, and chuckled. "Someone must have decided that by flipping a coin." Iris chimed, "Thankfully, there's no boats around as I can see. Oy vey, Imagine if one crashed into the country..." Vivian blinked for a moment, "...Not funny. Get your arse in gear here, Iris." "But..." Wendy shuddered. "Isn't it going to be cold? I mean, it's called "iceberg". I don't really like the cold..." Vivian shivered. "Damn straight....I'm freezing my butt off over here..." Ulalia, for some reason, seemed to be perfectly fine in her attire of daisy dukes, a tube top, and jacket over it. "...Wait, really? I don't feel anything..." "Magic, quite obviously." Jason stated the obvious as Wendy moved closer to him. Iceberg, being halfway across Earthland, was naturally difficult to get to, especially by boat as Iris was so kind to quip. "Why is it we're going by foot again?" Yasaka asked from above. Naturally, everyone but her. "We tried taking transportation." Jason reminded her. "Vivian could only take it halfway through. Even Wendy got a little dizzy." Vivian, even thinking about it made her want to hurl. "...I do remember when it was really cold, Iris allowed me to hold onto her tail to keep myself warm...then," Iris put on a ':3' expression. "I found out what effect it had on her." "I don't even want to know." Yasaka replied, her face scrunching up as she was quite aware what was the end result of that. "Where are we now, anyway?" "Near the edge of Stella." Jason replied, looking up at the Exceed. "Even when we get into Iceberg, Isvan is near the edge of it, near the Pergrande Kingdom actually." Iris commented, "...I swear, I do NOT know half of these places~ My head hurts just thinking about it..." Vivian petted Iris' ears in a bemused tone. "Maybe you should've paid attention in geography class, hmm?" "Don't think too much over it, it's nothing worth worry about." Jason told Iris. "Is there something we should worry about?" Wendy asked, nervous. "Specifically? Wyverns." Jason said simply. To mention something so offhandedly, as if he was discussing it over drinks, was insane. "W-wyverns!?" Yasaka yelped from above them. "Are you mad?" Iris resisted the urge to call out a certain reference, but calmly responded, "...Besides, we're all in a higher echleon of power. I think we can handle this okay." Almost as if on cue, a distant roar could be heard in the sky, and in the distance, they saw some creatures flying around. They weren't close, and didn't seem to be getting any closer either. Jason turned a stoic eye up to them, stopping for the briefest moment, but then kept walking. "We should get across the border." "...So, we're just going to ignore them?" Yasaka asked indredulously. "Or pretend it's a flock of kestrels?" "It could be." Jason replied, shrugging. "We can't see from this distance." Iris muttered, "I have no idea what a kestrel is...." Vivian replied, "...Neither do I..." Truly, those two weren't the brightest bulbs. "Kestrels are what we wants those to be." Jason replied. They continued at a quicky pace, and there wasn't anything truly eventful that happened as they reached the land of Iceberg, The name was truly fitting, as the entire place was some froze winter wonderland. Wendy was shivering, to be expected from wearing a dress in a place like this. Jason removed his kosode and wrapped it around her like a jacket. The shitagi he wore underneath was fine enough for him. He turned to look up at the sky. "Those...things...they're still there...and yet..." He squinted. 'They're following us at such a pace that they keep a far distance. I can't get an eye on them." Iris looked up at the sky: nevertheless, she remained completely oblivious to the situation. "...Still, they're pretty birds...Though they're a little big..." Jason sighed. "Let's ignore them, and stock up on a few supplies here." He gestured to one of the stores in the area. "We're heading deeper into Iceberg, where it's much colder and mountains reign supreme. We don't want too many inconveniences." Iris nodded. "Righty-o." She really wanted to buy a new scarf right about now. They went into the store, and looking around for different things. There was a small clothes section that consisted mainly of fluffy, wooly items suitable for the climate. Wendy and Iris immediately ''jumped at the clothing, which were strangely styled clothing, like the Russian fur clothes of the real world. Jason looked at Ulalia. "Not buying anything?" Ulalia suddenly snapped back to the 'real' world. "...Not really. Cute stuff here, but other than that it's all kinda junk..." Vivian facepalmed. "You're not supposed to say that in the damn store." "Don't worry." One of the employees looked over a shelf. "We don't make the things here, we know we stock less than quality material. It just happens to be the cheapest store around. In the background, with no one watching, Iris and Wendy were having a tug of war over a scarf they both wanted. Jason looked at Vivian. "You're a bit too critical." Vivian muttered, "Guess you're right. But it could be worse." In the background, it was clear that Iris was struggling against Wendy, as the little girl was actually quite tough. "True, I could dislike you." Jason replied, placing his arm around Vivian. Naturally, she was one of the closest in the harem to him, besides Iris and Wendy. Speaking of them, Wendy and Iris were rolling on the floor of the store, unnoticed by anyone, still fighting over the scarf. Vivian crossed her arms rather haughtily. "Trust me, it'd be worse if I were the one to dislike you." Unobserved by everyone, Iris struggled with all her might, but she couldn't exactly beat Wendy in this intense tug-o-war. "You wouldn't be capable of doing anything if you did." Jason told her. "I utterly surpass you in magical power." Wendy was suddenly standing on top of Iris, holding the scarf up like a trophy and puffing her chest out in an obvious "I WIN!" gesture. Iris rubbed her head slightly, muttering something, though she certainly was dissapointed by her loss. "Owwwwwwwwwww..." Vivian glared at him as the room heated up slightly. "Wanna bet, buster?" Jason placed a hand on her head. "You don't want to try me." Before Vivian could make it worse, Wendy came over to Jason, showing him the scarf she wanted. It was obvious she was proud enough to have snatched it from Iris. Vivian just sighed. "I never wanted to 'try' you in the first place, you dolt..." As they paid for their things, they immediately (everyone except Jason and Ulalia, who were quite comfortable, and Yasaka, who didn't need them) donned their new, furry outfits designed to tell the cold to "fuck off". As they started walking, it was only ten minutes into their journey that Jason turned, and looked behind him. He then spoke the most calm, bored voice imaginable. "So...everyone...what do we do about the things that aren't kestrels?" Iris had the perfect solution as she grabbed Vivian and flailed her around wildly in the air. "Perfect! We kill them with fire!" Vivian just aplied her palm to her forehead in exasperation at this. "Dammit, put me down you idiot." As Iris released her grip, Vivian muttered, "We're going to have to hurry and hope that nothing bad happens. Otherwise, we should just hope that they don't attack us." "It's a bit late for that." Yasaka told them, flying above them all. "Why's that?" Wendy asked, covering up with her new scarf. It ''was cold. "Because they're coming right for us!" Yasaka told them. "What the hell do we do?" Jason looked around, and saw the area was too crowed for him to unleash on the oncoming Wyverns and not accidentally hurt someone else. He groaned. The hero's limitation, innocent bystanders. "We run." Jason told them simply. Iris's ears perked up while following Jason's orders. "Geeez! It's like that time at school with the pidgeons- you know what I'm talking about Viv- but with less fluffy birds crapping on our heads and more giant dragons trying to claw us in half." Vivian just ran full speed ahead. "You don't say?" Jason ran as well, followed closely by Wendy and Ulalia. Yasaka was flying like the dickens. "Is now really the time for small talk?" He asked Iris as the Wyverns sped up after them. Naturally, a scene like this caused every civilian near to flee to their homes, and men went to hide their kids and hide their wives, fearing their safety. Ulalia's eyes widened. "....Those aren't birds." She stopped gawking and picked up the pace, unwilling to be Wyvern food. Vivian wasn't amused in the slightest- though her steps quickened as she raced forward without pause, completely focused on not becoming dinner. However, a Wyvern swooped down, ahead of it's group, and wrapped it's talons around Wendy's shoulders, scooping her up and flying off before anyone can reaction. Naturally, Wendy shrieked in terror as the Wyvern flew high into the air. "No! Wendy!" Jason called angrily into the air as actually lost his composure. He couldn't make a go at the Wyvern carrying her. It was too high and she would be put in his line of attack. However, Jason did summon Gehaburn, at which point everyone took it as a cue to back off. Surrounding the blade with energy, a look of rage on his face, he swung his blade, destroying a good portion of the ground, a few homes, as well as completely eradicating the rest of the Wyvern flock. Yasaka landed near Jason, looking up at him in fright. He'd nearly killed most of this small town in a rage. Iris seemed rather shaken by all of this; actually quite terrified by what had just happened. Jason, when enraged, was...quite terrifying. She tried to assure him, "We'll...definitely get Wendy back, no matter what." Not Quite (Dragon) Slayers Jason was running at top speeds, Yasaka flying after him and Ulalia, Iris, and Vivian tailing fast. "This makes no sense...Wyverns are supposed to be solitary creatures. What was with that group? And even more puzzling, Wyverns that live in this region are usually herbivorous!" Why did none of this make sense? Ulalia began to think. "...Maybe they're hungry for god knows what reason...It sounds bizarre, but it's the only clear idea we have as of now." "That's what I'm scared of." Jason gritted his teeth. "We have to save her before that happens." Yasaka agreed, looking upset that her partner was taken. ---- "H-hey!" Wendy was struggling, but the talons were gripped tight. And if she shot the Wyvern down from this height with a Dragon's Roar, chances are, she'd fall right to her death. "This is bad...." She was getting worried as the Wyven flew high onto a rocky clifffface. It dropped her right into a makeshit nest with several eggs, and then flew off. Wendy looked around. The eggs were large, about half her height. She gulped. "I know where this is going..." ---- "A cliff?" Jason frowned. "This is too simple.." They had chased where they figured thw Wyvern had gone, straight to the bottom of the clifface. He set his face, and looked up. "No place to go but straight up." Ulalia grabbed a pen from her pocket. "Shall I?" It was obvious; she was going to use Solid Script to generate a floating platform for all of them to stand on and rise up safely. Jason, however, was already running? up the cliffside, purely showing Earth where it could stick gravity, as such trivial forces as nature wouldn't keep him from Wendy. Yasaka was flying up with him, and looked down at Ulalia, Iris, and Vivian. "Make platforms for them!" She called down. "And catch up!" Ulalia wrote on the air the letters 'P-L-A-T-F-O-R-M'. "Solid Script: Platform!" In an instant, a triad of platforms were materialized underneath Iris, Vivian, and herself, which quickly began to float up, catching up to Jason rather quickly. Ulalia looked at her wristwatch, tapping her toes as she ascended. "What do we do when we reach Wendy, Jason?" Yasaka asked, giving him a passing glance. "Kill everything that isn't her." Jason replied, running straight through a boulder and showing no visible signs of even noticing it was there. Yasaka flinched at this. Iris nodded almost robotically. "Consider it done, Master." It was so unlike her it was downright scary. Magical energy charged around her feet as she shot forward like a bullet, preparing to demolish everything in her path. Vivian sighed. "...Iris, stop ...not thinking. You...don't...not think. You 'not think' a lot, you know. So stop....not thinking." Forming a sentance like that was incredibly awkward; not to mention it sounded ridiclous. Nevertheless she stayed on target and continued after Iris, manifesting flames from her hands to blow away the surroundings. However, straight from the cliffside, Wyverns began to divebomb them like mentally retarded terrorists, screeching as if to say "WE'RE COMING TO KILL YOU, BUT IF WE DIDN'T WARN YOU, IT'D BE RUDE!". Jason immediately caught onto the roar of Wyverns, and jumped up the cliff-face, as if he wasn't defying nature bad enough already, slicing the nearest one in half. "They're coming your way!" Jason called down to his girls and Ulalia. Ulalia sighed. She was prepared for this sort of thing. Gripping her pen once again, she wrote in the air, "Solid Script: B-A-R-R-I-E-R." This formed a beehive of pure magical energy that would most certainly shield the group from the onslaught about to bombard them with ease. "Ever considering turining that into a giant claymore!?" Yasaka called out, frustrated that Ulalia was more focused on defence than offence. Not that it mattered. Iris and Vivian had more than enough offensive power to handle creatures like this. From Jason's left, another Wyvern came charging at him. He swerved out of the way, landed back on the cliff-face an in upright position, and swung his sword, sending a blast of pure air pressure down towards the Wyvern, hitting it in the back and sending it plummeting hundreds ouf feet down to it's death. Ulalia gritted her teeth. "We're almost there. The barrier should be enough to deflect any bombardment from these stupid beasts." Her palm was touching the barrier; likely that it was being held up by her own hand. "Once we make it there, you two can just go crazy and destroy everything." As Wendy sat in the nest, she saw Wyverns rushing past, dashing downwards. What was she missing All she knew was, this entire mountain-range was a haven for this colony of Wyverns. "What's attracting their attention?" She murmured, and craned her head ove the nest. Her sight was strained, but she could make out figure utterly destroying Wyverns as they flew down. She smiled. "JASON! I'M UP HERE!" Her voice carried down and it caught Jason's ears. "Wendy! I'm on my way!" He called up, however, a wall of Wyverns appeared in front of him stretching for miles across. It took him a second to figure out why they were all bombarding them. The Wyverns were protecting their various nests. Did he care? No. The three teached Jason- Iris merely glanced up, muttering, "...Well, darn." That certainly put a damper on her spirits. Thrusting her arm out, Iris shaped magical energy into ice, and then moulded ice into a large cannon. "Ice-Make: Multi-Array Cannon!" BANG! A dozen of powerful spheres of ice shot from the barrel of the cannon, blowing the Wyverns out of the sky. Vivian manifested flames from her body. "Solar Dragon's Drones!" These flames were shaped into dozens of drones of pure magical energy, which released incredibly potent flames from their orbed forms, blitzing what was quite possibly the rest. However, the remaining Wyverns persisted in forming a blockade, determined to keep the Akatsuki guild from getting further up the cliff-face. Jason frowned. "Wyverns. I don't care that you're the apex predator around here. I don't care that you have children in this area." He stabbed the cliff-side. "You've taken someone from me...and for that, even without your ability to reason, you will be truly sorry." His blade began to glow, and Yasaka took that as her cue to get back. "Everyone, move!" She called out as a blast of energy erupted from inside the cliff, destroying it and most of the mountain chain. Rubble began to tumble to the ground with the remains of several Wyverns and eggs. Wendy shrieked as she started to fall. Her magic couldn't keep her safe from a fall like this. Jason, utilizing rocks that were falling, jumped up to catch the girl, who clung to his neck. "Ulalia, make me a platform." He instructed her as he began to fall. Iris dusted her hands off. "And that's the end of that chapter..." Ulalia whipped out her trusty pen and wrote in the air "Solid Script: P-L-A-T-F-O-R-M." She had seen where Jason was about to fall; and calculated it perfectly, generating a platform with ease. Surely he wouldn't miss the spot. Naturally,Jason landed neatly on the platform and Yasaka flew over to him immediately, hugging Wendy and making sure she wasn't hurt. Superficial actions though they were, the Exceed cared for the girl and couldn't restrain herself when it came to her well-being. Wendy was clinging to Jason's neck as the platforms began to descend. She didn't seem scared, but just seemed to want to know Jason was there. Iris's tail bobbed about pleasantly; happy that Wendy was safe and sound. "...That was easier than expected, don't you think~?" "Except that Jason just destroyed the entire population of a keystone species..." Yasaka looked troubled. "The entire ecosystem is going to be thrown off you know..." "It's not my concern." Jason shrugged as the entire platform descended, gripping Wendy. "Wendy is safe." Iris's ears seemed to poke up slightly; just as expected. "...Well, so now, we'll just wander off and pretend this didn't happen?" Ulalia muttered to herself, "...This probably won't come up again. It'll be fine." "Now...let's head to Isvan." Jason told them and they set off again, to face their mission.? END